Local students lag behind the state on California Physical
Fitness Test
Gilroy – Local students still need to shape up.
The results of the 2004-2005 California Physical Fitness Test, which were released this week, reveal that local adolescents need to shed some weight, run faster and increase upper and abdominal strength.
California fifth, seventh and ninth-graders must complete the fitness test annually. The test assesses students’ physical fitness in six major areas including cardiovascular endurance, body composition or percentage of body fat, abdominal strength, trunk strength and flexibility, upper body strength and overall flexibility.
Gilroy’s results show that they’re still lagging behind the rest of the state – and the state isn’t exactly in stellar shape.
Of the 1.3 million students tested in California only 25 percent of fifth-graders, 29 percent of seventh graders and 27 percent of ninth-graders achieved the performance goal in all six of the tests measurements.
In Gilroy, of the 2,128 students tested, only 12 percent of fifth-graders, 17 percent of seventh-graders and 23 percent of ninth-graders managed to meet all six standards.
On the one-mile run, considered the most essential test by state education officials since recent research ties good aerobic capacity to fewer health problem, Gilroy is once again on the tail end.
Only 56 percent of students across the three grades met the cardiovascular goal compared to 49 percent in Gilroy. When broken down by grade level the data shows that seventh-graders, both city and statewide, are in the best shape.
In California, 58 percent of fifth-graders, 60 percent of seventh-graders and 51 percent of ninth-graders met the aerobic standard. In Gilroy, 46 percent of fifth-graders, 52 percent of seventh-graders and 50 percent of ninth-graders, passed the aerobic portion.
Gilroy’s low numbers coincide with a recent report that local students weighed in as the fattest in the county. At 31 percent, Gilroy has the highest percent of overweight children in Santa Clara County, according to a recent report from the California Center for Public Health Advocacy.
Santa Clara County Office of Education is attempting to cure the fattening up and slowing down trend, with a new program called Fit for Learning. In late October, SCCOE kicked off its program with a visit from soccer player Brandi Chastain.
In it’s pilot year the program will focus on improving fifth-graders health through education and there are plans to expand to other grades.
Fitness Test Results
Gilroy Unified School District
49 percent of students passed aerobic capacity test
17 percent met all six fitness standards
California
56 percent of students passed aerobic capacity test
27 percent met all six fitness standards
Source: California Department of Education
For more information about the test results, go to www.cde.ca.gov
